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Nishinari District
The Nishinari District is simply made up of the Osaka ward of the same name. A small but close-knit district run by the yakuza who have set up their headquarters there. The organization, which is noteworthy and shady in the UG and RG alike, puts players through a rigorous test of strength during its Game. Current Standing Reapers Composer: Kurihara Aki * The adopted daughter of the head of this branch of the RG yakuza, Kurihara Kazuma. Her blood parents were killed when she was 3 years old, the yakuza took her in (read: kidnapped her), and Kazuma has been raising her as his heir ever since. * She was selected as heir over Kazuma's blood son, Aikuro, and Aikuro has never forgiven her for this fact. Not to mention that Aikuro died because of Aki, with Kazuma very upset about him selling Aki into slavery as a 4-year-old when she got on his nerves. Kazuma wasn't inclined to forgive him for that little stunt even after Aki returned safe and unharmed. * She leads her own little gang, the Stray Cats, which consists of her five adopted older brothers. And herself, of course, though with her wolf motif she's a bit of an oddball when it comes to the cat theme. She rescued them from slavery when she broke out and they've been undyingly loyal ever since. The six of them terrorise Osaka on a regular basis, as the elite squad/gang of yakuza enforcers. * Her younger cousin Kagome is one of the very few things she genuinely cares about in this world. She met the young girl after Kazuma took her in after a staged car accident and immediately dedicated her life to protecting her, vowing to serve as the knight to her princess forevermore. Aki died in a shoot-out, protecting Kagome til the end with her body and guns, and only allowing herself to actually die once the other Cats had arrived as reinforcements (or rather, to take Kagome back to safety). She's actually engaged to this girl as a form of buying her out of her debt to the yakuza. After all, if she becomes Aki's, Aki can set her free. * She's selectively mute and has a hard time not only speaking but listening to others' words. People don't matter to her, for the most part. Her family and Conductor/Producer are some of the very few exceptions. This district is largely fluent in JSL because that's how Aki prefers to communicate with them all, but she does have a notepad to write on in case of new reapers or transfers. * Her Noise form is a sleek black wolf. She has an exceptional fondness for canines as a result. Conductor: "Matthew C. Vanderbilt" * Whether this is even his true name is unknown, but it's sure what he goes by. * He used to be a kind, gentle ordinary older brother who loved his younger sister. Now... well, he still loves his sister, at least, but that's about his only redeeming quality. He was killed by the yakuza when he made the mistake of hitting on one of their girlfriends (having been quite the womanizer in life) and brought into the UG during Kurihara Aikuro's reign. He was essentially forced into frequenting the nightclubs of the district, especially once Melody showed up in the UG; to keep her from being given invitations she couldn't refuse, he took the full brunt of the depravity himself. This twisted him into a cynical, bitter shell of a man who lives for hedonism and his sister's sake. * His Noise form is a small black/white mouse. Unusually for a Conductor, he cannot control his Noise form, and becomes feral whenever he goes into it. However, a feral mice is more inclined to play around and steal food than it is to actually attack anyone... As a result, very few people have ever seen his Noise form. Producer: Yukio name unrevealed * He's the leader of a wildly successful (and unconventional) gang. While you'd expect them to be a bunch of rowdy hooligans kept in check only by fear of their powerful leader, the gang is surprisingly non-malicious... though it would have to be, to avoid stepping all over the Nishinari yakuza's territory. Yukio keeps them in line and following him through sheer charisma and some surprisingly persuasive speeches. He sincerely cares about all of them and has so far kept any of them from dying to join the Game. * He wasn't originally from Nishinari ward, but elsewhere in Osaka; his gang followed him here after his death and quasi-resurrection. Aki knew him growing up, since she'd been sent to do recon on his gang on more than one occasion, just to make sure they weren't encroaching on any of the yakuza's pet projects, even if those projects weren't in Nishinari proper. As a result, when the two of them ended up in the same Game, they partnered. His kind and selfless nature earned him the choice to Ascend. Kyodai: Black Diamond, Chisa (human but still kyodai), Miu, Misato, Troika, and others. Shatei: Kudou Hotaka, Sadame Ayane Kaikei: Melody Carmen Vanderbilt, Kita Kazane Angels: '''Ojii-sama, Jack About It's a gangster's paradise. Reaper Hierarchy Many of the reapers and dead players in this district are yakuza, or have run into some during their lives. The Composer directs the UG reapers like a yakuza organisation regardless of their membership in the RG. Upon becoming a reaper, they renounce all previous loyalties to other organisations or people. (Exceptions may be made if other people they were close to were ex-Players or the like; Game-related beings in Nishinari itself are okay to still have ties to as long as supreme loyalty is to the Composer.) The Composer is referred to as either 'Composer' or '''kumicho, the Conductor as 'Conductor' or so-honbucho, and the Producer as saiko koman when referring to their titles; addressing them must be done formally and with the utmost respect. Names are never used unless the individual in question has given express permission, though the Composer and Conductor can be referred to or addressed as oyabun/adoptive parents if desired. Officer reapers are referred to as kyodai or elder siblings; harriers are referred to as shatei or little siblings; supports can also be called shatei or kaikei for their particular roles. There isn't nearly as much distinction between Harrier and Support as there is in Shibuya, since often the reapers prefer to be fighting players and thus dislike watching over fights. Only dedicated supports are truly kaikei','' and those are rare, usually only having one or two per game week. Kaikei take notes on the players, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses in particular, and keep an eye on the more bloodthirsty reapers to make sure the Composer's rules aren't broken in the middle of a fight. Since the majority of reapers want to fight instead of keep notes, they switch off between who fights and who takes notes, or even go into fights as pairs or triads so that they can all get a turn fighting while doing their best to keep notes on each other. Kyodai often help keep notes if they're around and not too busy, but they take notes on all the shatei. The current Composer keeps an eye on all the Reapers so she can step in and personally talk to them if any seem to be having trouble or going out of control, and relies on the elder reapers to report to her about the younger ones. It's stressed that the reapers are your new family when you become a reaper. You refer to them as your family, and individually they're your elder or younger siblings, and you're meant to treat them like it. Camaraderie and genuine caring about each other is strongly encouraged by the Composer. Anything troubling you can be brought up to one of your siblings. While Nishinari is relatively ruthless, the reapers there are meant to be supportive of each other as a family should. Of course, this doesn't always mesh well with the less social Reapers in the district... Game The entry fee is always the same as Shibuya's fee for Week 14: one's greatest attribute according to themselves. Only Players who have shown some form of exceptional individual strength-- most obviously physical, but willpower, intelligence, and emotional/social intelligence have all been considered closely-- will be granted the chance for Reaperdom in the event their partner dies. Players who have not been able to overcome their entry fee to show strength anyway will never be considered, and are often the first targets of erasure. Only a Player pair that shows exceptional individual /and/ pair strength will be able to win. The others are mercilessly eliminated. As a result there are usually only two winning Players, if any. Total erasure (with or without any new Reaper conversions) is seen only as a sign that the week's Players were not strong enough to prevail in this environment. on the actual game itself later. History The position of Composer is commonly passed down across generations, the title moving from one head of the yakuza to the next. Before Aki there was her scumbag brother, who inherited the organization from their father. The UG under his rule was far worse than how Nishinari is now. During this time, Vanderbilt played his game, lost, changed his name, and experienced his fall from grace from a nice big bro into a completely depraved and terrible person. Revolution Then when Aki actually perished, she became a vicious harrier, ascending through the ranks until her brother offered her the chance of becoming the Game Master. It was never an act of goodwill, though. As Aki was becoming a major threat to him, he was counting on the Players to eliminate her during the GM fight. Through that Game, she actively spoke with the Players through sign language and her notepad, or passed messages through Reapers that did not completely enjoy her brother's reign. She twisted the Game around, using the missions she created to weed out the weakest Players and form indomitable bonds with the six who remained. The Game stretched out across two and a half weeks until her brother ordered an end to her antics and called for the final judgment of the Players in a fight against their Game Master. At that point, Aki rallied the six Players around her and took them to fight the Composer himself, promising that any who died in the fight would be given the chance to Replay if she won. In that fight, five of the six Players were erased. The final one survived through Aki rending her static until the two of them pacted just enough to keep the girl alive. With her brother defeated, Aki took his position and resurrected the surviving Player. The next Game, the other five were dragged from the static back to her side. Since she had eliminated most reapers still loyal to the old Composer and was running a bit short on Reapers at that point, she offered all five of them Reaperdom. None of them trusted their luck in Nishinari's harsh game enough to want to actually Replay, so they all accepted her offer, and became the foundation of her base of power among the kyodai and shatei. After all, any Players who would trust in her enough to fight against the Composer at her side would surely not stir up trouble under her reign. Then there was Vanderbilt, the only surviving Officer who had never really liked the previous Composer. Despite his rank, he hadn't been too eager to join Aki's brother, instead laughing at the absurdity of it all. When told to join her or die, he was the only one that did not attack. ... That, coupled with his experience, was enough to get him the position of Conductor. And so, they now watch over Nishinari with their own strict regime. Brands Resonance Resonance is a mechanic of Nishinari in particular that is absolutely essential to winning-- or even lasting long in-- a Game. Naturally, no Players are ever told about it, and it's left entirely up to them to discover that Resonance so much as exists, let alone figure out which brand (or brands) they resonate with. Most Players find out about it either by discovering that a particular pin is incredibly powerful in their hands, while another (non-resonant) Player has been unable to get it to do much at all, or by befriending a Reaper or Shopkeeper who takes pity on them enough to tell them about it. Shopkeepers are more likely to open up to Players they believe resonate with the brand they sell in particular. Reapers all understand Resonance and fight solely with pins they resonate with; if they did not discover this during their Game, they're told during basic Reaper training, and all transfer Reapers are immediately taught about the mechanic and taken around to all the shops until they find their strongest brand. In short, the pins and threads of any one brand react strongly to certain qualities of a wielder. The qualities any brand resonates with vary widely and are listed below. In the hands of a resonant wielder, even the least impressive pin of a brand will become stronger than the strongest pin of a non-resonant brand (save the Composer-exclusive brand), and threads will unlock new and beneficial effects available to such resonant wielders alone. Shopkeepers for the shops of the Game are only chosen from individuals already associated with the Game. Any form of ex-Player (including reapers and angels) native to Nishinari's Game may work at one of the brand stores. Each store is firmly devoted to selling only pins and threads of that brand, and any shopkeeper who wishes to work at one such store must be not only resonant with the featured brand, but exceptionally so. If a current Player who meets the qualifications for shopkeeper status gets along with the current shopkeepers of that brand to the point they've all agreed to this prior, the Composer or Conductor may step in to strike a deal with them-- if that Player or Player's partner is erased, that Player will be granted Reaperdom conditional upon their staying in Nishinari to work as a shopkeeper for their brand for at least five years. A Reaper who has taken and had to fall back on this deal is considered the property of the yakuza for that time period and can only leave the district in any way if sent by the Composer or traded for something of equal value. Unluckiest are those who resonate with the Composer-exclusive brand above all else, because they will likely die before they discover this as Players, and Reapers must strive above and beyond the limits of their known strength to be rewarded with even one item per Week. The previous Composer was far more free with giving out such items than Aki is, but she's always on the lookout for a partner pair that truly embodies the qualities of her brand. Mythos An exclusive brand. Only the Composer has access to it, or is allowed to equip it as a main brand. The Composer-exclusive brand changes along with the shop when power is transferred to a new Composer; it is the most lasting mark of their effect on the RG. On the dawn of the day that marks the end of the Game, Aki distributes individual pins or threads to players or reapers she has deemed worthy. Any individual item is extremely powerful at base level and only becomes moreso if wielded by a resonant user. Reapers who have been given a Mythos item are allowed to equip it in future Games, but can never have it as their main brand. Players who return to life are seen as having only an extremely exclusive mark of fashion on them, which generally grants them somewhat more respect in certain areas of the community. Usually the ones who know what this style means. '''Shop: A black, perfectly measured cube. Not too big. Quietly secreted in a corner of the district that’s usually walled off during missions. There is no door. Y T H O S is printed very neatly in silver on one side, the only distinctive feature of this cube. Most residents of Nishinari think it to be some strange art piece. The fact that an exclusive, decadent bar used to be in its place has almost completely escaped their minds. Shopkeepers: '''None '''Brand Theme: Resonance: The desire to protect another, the willingness to give your life for another, the strength of your bond with your ward. Jokers Wild Red, black, white, and occasional flashes of gold-- this brand has a playing card motif and isn't afraid to show it. Poker chips, dice, and roulette wheels are other common themes. Shop: 'On the wall opposite the door, written in large gilded letters, is the quote ''"It's much more fun, I must confess, when lives are on the line. Not mine, of course, but yours, old boy-- now that'd be just fine." '''Shopkeepers: '''Masahiro racked up quite a few gambling debts that led to his unfortunate demise. He woke up in the Game shocked at not being quite as dead as he'd thought he would be-- and proved to be near-completely useless at strategy, thinking things through, or not rushing into traps headfirst. His partner was unable to slow him down. He used a deck of cards to fight, flinging them through the air like razor-edged knives, so was naturally attracted to Jokers Wild the moment he saw the store. After his partner died, his unusually high affinity for the brand saved him; the then-current shopkeeper wanted to retire and had spoken to Aki about Masahiro taking his place. Now, he can usually be found holding a gambling tournament of some kind within the shop, as well as hosting a roulette for free items or discounts during Games. '''Brand Theme: Resonance: Devil-may-care attitude, mania, gambling addiction Blood Rain The conductor’s signature brand. This store takes punk and makes it so edgy that everyone not into this aesthetic cringes if they so much as see the inside of the store. Most of their clothing comes pre-torn. Almost everything is in black and red, and motifs of barbed wire, skulls, broken/stabbed hearts, and blood stains dripping down the wearer’s clothing are extremely common here. Example pins include of World’s Destruction, Demon Of The Apocalypse, and Turn To Blood. In the hands of someone who does not resonate with it, Blood Rain is only slightly stronger than Lumielle. However, the more strongly someone embodies the qualities necessary to resonate with this brand, the stronger the items become-- sometimes to the point that strength is overwhelming and can outshine almost any pin in the Game, as well as enhancing attack greatly through its threads. This will naturally have an adverse effect on the user, and resonating too strongly can cause berserker rages and blackouts if overused. Shop: At first glance, it looks like a normal enough shop, with walls made of rough grey stone. Upon closer examination, the brand name it carries is branded in one wall to the point it looks like it was burned in. It’s a rough, scrawling font. The old man who works there and his granddaughter Chishio have a habit of giving players they think will be resonant with their brand a pin to fight with in moments of desperation, telling the player to pay them back later. Shopkeepers: '''Ojii-sama and his granddaughter Chishio. Ojii-sama has been in the district longer than any surviving Reaper has and is a very kindly old man who also happens to be a berserker and Angel. He was the sole shopkeeper until a Game during Aikuro's reign, where a 10-year-old girl happened to be one of the Players. The Conductor then assigned the girl a Blood Rain pin as one of her starting for on a lark, because there was no possible way such a child could make use of it. The child turned out both to have been a victim of human trafficking killed in an escape attempt and the strongest user of this brand that had been seen in years. Chishio doesn't remember fighting in her Game at all, or even much about it-- she spent nearly 80% of it blacked out in pure berserker fury, barely controlled by her partner. Aikuro intervened to allow her and her much weaker (and also terrified) partner to win the Game because he and the kyodai all found Chishio highly amusing, and thought she could be kept around as a mascot of sorts. After her Game, she returned to life, had nowhere else to go yet was deemed too unstable to leave to her own devices, and thus was adopted by Ojii-sama. She's now a very cheerful and well-adjusted human child who has no idea her grandfather is an angel, let alone an angel specifically dedicated to keeping her under control. '''Brand Theme: Resonance: Fueled by negative emotions, glee in some kind of destruction, sadism, intense desire for vengeance Darkest Night All of the threads and pins are black. Pure black. There are no differentiating marks on the pins, making them nearly impossible for a non-resonant wielder to use; those who experience Resonance with the brand are instinctively able to tell apart the different flavours of void. These are very often area-of-effect pins, whether or not they're intended to be, since their effects spread their wielder's core feelings through every sentient being nearby. There is often no active attacking or movement made by someone who resonates particularly strongly; they simply activate their pins one at a time by concentrating on the emptiness or despair inside of them, until the effect begins tearing their opponents apart. Darkest Night pins are particularly effective against beings who resonate with the brand. One's own severe apathy being pulled to the surface and made to surround you is not a pleasant experience for those who have enough of that apathy and nothingness inside to be able to project it onto others. Example pins include Parts Of Myself and Of Self Come Undone. Shop: 'When you walk in, you almost immediately feel a sense of vertigo. The walls, floor, and ceiling are all painted a shade of black that seems to suck in all light and leave nothing behind. '''Shopkeepers: '''If you've had the misfortune to run into the shatei named Ayane, it's often startling to see the girl behind the counter who looks nearly identical to said reaper. Kazune is the lone spark of light in the store, eschewing actually wearing her brand's clothing in favour of white and silver. She and her twin Shizuka played as a partner pair, and though they learned about Resonance early on, she couldn't make any brand work for her... up until a reaper grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the Noise Plane. The direct touch and subsequent assault led to a dissociative fugue, revealing the pure void at her core, and finally unlocking the power of the sole Darkest Night pin she had then. The void spreading all around her was terrifying and draining enough Aki actually directly encouraged her to go back to life just so that she could never tap into the power of the pins again. Charon, on the other hand, was straight-up forced to become a shopkeeper. While he used to be an inquisitive, vibrant detective, he lost his driving force of curiosity as his entry fee (and most of his willpower with it). Aki recognised him for a strongly resonant Darkest Night wielder, but ''only without his entry fee present in his life, and ordered the reapers to do everything in their power to kill his partner, but to leave him alive. This was before Kazune's Game, and the old shopkeeper from Darkest Night wanted to move to another district, having grown tired of the violence. So when she saw the opportunity to force Charon to become a shopkeeper or die alongside his partner, she took it without a second thought. He greets customers with dull, dead eyes and serves monotonously alongside his fellow shopkeeper, the picture of perfect obedience and loyalty. '''Brand Theme: Resonance: Emptiness, apathy, the faint desire to live without knowing why' ' MO.NO. All of the clothes are black and white. No in-between. It’s sort of a cross between punk and mainstream, though without being overtly torn and flamboyant in that punk style. Example Shop: Everything in the shop is laid out neatly, displays intersecting each other at perfect right angles. On the wall by the door is posted a large scroll with all the rules of the store on it: how to approach the register, how to find clothes, how to address both of them, how to pay, how to receive change, and how to thank them. Break the rules three times and you forfeit all of the items bought, with no refund. Shopkeepers: Brand Theme: Resonance: ''A rigid worldview, arrogance, unbreakable pride, selfishness'' ' Charlotte Tea Party Everything in the store is a sweet and soft aesthetic. Almost everything is in pastel colours, though hints of silver and white are often found. There's lots of floofy floaty stuff-- skirts that flow out around you like a cloud, jackets that are so thin and sheer they're almost like gauze, dresses with so many layers they poof out and twirl around your legs when you spin, bubble socks that fluff outwards around your legs, and the like. The fabrics range from soft to satiny, but nothing overly rough or edgy can be found here. There can be found accessories and shirts with cute cartoon mascots on them. Certainly any yume kawaii fashionistas would adore this place. '''Shop: '''The small pastel blue building often fails to catch a hurried Player's notice the first several times they pass it by. ''Charlotte Tea Party is written in beautiful calligraphic style with shimmering silver ink just above the one and only door, but there's no sign out front apart from that. Coming in, it's easy to see the two shopkeepers don't take as much care of everything here as they should. Clothing is piled everywhere in the store-- heaped on tables, haphazardly hanging off hooks and racks, strewn on the backs of chairs, and some even dangling from pieces of modern art on the ceiling. There are multiple mannequins dressed in co-ords they thought would be pretty and far more canvases, most of which are covered with Caren's strange, surrealist art. '''Shopkeepers: '''Caren isn't really sure how she became a shopkeeper. Dying somehow got her this job, she knows that much, but the details are beyond her. The ex-Player was gifted a set of paints and inks from Ojii-sama for her kindness to Chishio, whom she views as a younger sister figure. If Caren isn't careful (which she often isn't), her paintings and attempts at calligraphy become... unstable. 'Dancing autonomously through the empty store in the Noise Plane' levels of unstable. Eri does her best to corral Caren, often with little success, since she's too easily distracted by minor details and lapses into her own fantasy world. She fusses over Caren constantly, much like when she'd just discovered the semi-conscious girl as a Player and had bustled her into her store to give her a makeover. Imagine her delight when her instincts had proven right and Caren was eligible to stay here with her! Her co-shopkeeper is her favourite fashion model for all the outfits they piece together. '''Brand Theme: Resonance: Daydreaming, unconsciously attacking, the desire not to fight if necessary, incorporating elements of fine arts into attacks OFF 2 WaLLz Street fashion, belts and harem pants Shop: Shopkeepers: Brand Theme: Resonance: Obsession with reputation, desire to look cool when attacking, lack of respect for authority' ' Waraenai Hanashi Mori style clothing. Pretty expensive but only because it’s all hand-made. Shop: Shopkeepers: Brand Theme: Resonance: Entitlement, lack of empathy Fly Me To The Moon Classic and sweet Lolita, with some small forays into gothic Shop: Shopkeepers: '''Janna is ten years old and always says his parents will be back soon when asked. In reality, he's the only survivor of a staged car crash that killed his family-- and even then, being a Reaper without an entry fee is only technically survival. He understood that there was a lot of pain, and then there wasn't anymore when he woke up. What he didn't understand was what he was supposed to do next. Dead people? Missions? Partners? Seven minutes left to live? He was a brat to everyone around him to try to mask his confusion, treating it more like a video game and a dream than reality. Misha-- the beautiful white mage who won her Game by insisting that of course Holy was the strongest element, hadn't anyone ever played Final Fantasy, up until it became true-- became a surrogate older sister to him in her position as the FMTTM shopkeeper that Game. When his partner died, she pleaded with the Composer on his behalf to allow him to apprentice under her. Now Janna handles most of the day-to-day customer service and sales of the shop and Misha works behind the scenes on the paperwork. It's easier on both of them this way. '''Brand Theme: Resonance: Childishness, particularly fantastic effects when attacking, inability to comprehend the Game Sweet Devil Punk and gothic lolita. Shop: Shopkeepers: '''Troika was raised to be a household submissive from a very young age and ended up sold by their parents to a man in Nishinari. They were eventually killed for disobedience. In the Game, they pretended to be incredibly weak and to be dressing in Sweet Devil lolita only because they liked the style. They deliberately muted their pin effects and played up being cute and helpless to get others to take care of them. When a shatei separated them from their partner and threw them into the Noise Plane, they finally began fighting seriously, revealing themself to have an exceptional level of resonance for the adorable yet brutal attacks of their pins. This strength they'd been deliberately concealing allowed them to bulldoze their way through the rest of the game, carefully vivisecting everything they came across with a sweet lacy parasol. Despite their oft-teasing behaviour, Aki allows them to stick around in the district, in part because shopkeepers are so valuable and in part because the ex-Producer, Jack, took a liking to them. Jack is now their legal (well, 'legal') owner and they're much happier living with him than they ever were before. '''Brand Theme: Resonance: Malicious intent hidden by a smile, the desire to be cute yet cause pain, extreme mood swings, manipulative behaviour' ' Lumielle Casual clothing. Nothing too elaborate. All sorts of clothing in a variety of colours, but with no real decoration and simple, neutral shapes. Shop: Shopkeepers: Brand Theme: Resonance: Inability to resonate with any other brand Unbranded Each Player gets a pin when they become an official Player in the Game: a Player Pin. It isn't branded, and it looks fairly... not-fancy. Players are told it identifies them as and is the source of their power as a Player, so don't lose it, and it can't be traded in. But there are no fusion pins sold anywhere. The Composer's brand is the only one that has them, and only because the Composer's brand has an upgrade to just about every sort of power for those who are worthy. Resonance is the huge mechanic underlying everything about the Game in Nishinari, but the quality the Player Pins are looking for is "the level of bond with the other half your soul"-- your partner. Two partners' Player Pins are able to resonate with each other to unlock the capability of fusion, a joint attack whose power scales based off the strength of the bond. This is a power Reapers can no longer achieve, and is often the ace in the hole for two strong Players who discover it. It is strictly against the rules to even hint that fusion exists to any Player. However, when a Player becomes a Reaper, their pin is transformed into a Reaper Pin, and they're told what it does. It doesn't really have a 'special power'-- it's simply a power amplifier itself. The more you embody the mindset of a predator or hunter, becoming from your humanity, the greater the increase to your power in both Reaper and Noise form. You are a supernatural creature now, Reapers are told. You can live among humans, but you are not human. You will never be human again. You are better, more powerful, and in a district where makes right, you are the natural predator of humans. The Reaper Pin only activates or has any effect in the Noise Plane, and can be kept suppressed by deliberately acting in a human fashion within the Noise Plane, as if you are potentially on an equal level, and this is not a predator/prey interaction. This is to ensure that Reapers don't snap and become crazed murderers within the RG. The Noise Plane is their hunting grounds and they would best not forget it. During Aikuro's regime, the mechanic functioned in essentially the same way-- you're better than humans, might makes right, a power boost based off of detachment from humanity. It simply didn't have the theme of predatory interactions in the more hunter/animal sense, just in the 'looking for someone to take advantage of' sense. Particularly extra reapers/players are absolutely encouraged to associate music with reaper/player pins. It doesn't give the actual power-up the brand boost tracks do, but it helps centre them and get them into the proper mindset to use these unique pins. When a song starts playing all around a Reaper and their Reaper Pin lights up, you know you're fucked; and when two Players manage to unlock their own ace, it's about time for the light show to begin. Trivia * Nishinari has ten brands of its own; each brand's pins and threads are used to great effect during the Game. Players have quite a few options, but several of them are already incredibly expensive right off the bat. * Aki can barely stand Vanderbilt's antics most of the time. He still does his job well, though, so she hasn't gotten around to choosing replacements. * Aki keeps a database of anyone she can find that's been involved in human trafficking. As the biological son of an information broker and the heir to the RG yakuza, she has quite a lot of information on this subject. All kyodai in the district have been taught to recognise anyone in it on sight. Category:Districts